21st Anniversary Trip

My Man took me to the Plaza for three days to celebrate our 21st anniversary!  He treated me to a delicious meal at one of our favorite places the first night, the dinner theatre the next night, shopping a couple of days but most of all just being alone with him was a real treat!  Thank You, Lord, for Glen and for blessing our marriage. 

Precious Start to Each Day

One of the most precious parts of our day is having our devotion during breakfast.  So sweet to watch Corbyn lead his siblings in the Joseph study.  Azaryah sits quietly and listens and even offers answers from time to time.  Moments that I will treasure forever!!

New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Hershey 2012

There are FAR TOO MANY pictures for me to post...All together, I took over 800 pictures of our entire trip.  The Lord was so gracious to have allowed us to travel safely, hang out for an entire week with our dear friends the Houses, see lots of historical sites, enjoy beautiful weather, and take our children to several places we had always hoped to go.

Our trip began on Friday, September 14th.  We traveled for two days to get to New Jersey.  We were able to take the children through 9 states, 4 of which they had never been in.  On Sunday, the Houses took us into New York City!!  What a fabulous day!!  We began by stopping on the Jersey side to see Manhattan.  We saw Jersey City, Ellis Island, and the Twin Towers Memorial on the Jersey side.  Then we drove into Manhatten where we walked through Battery Park, rode the Ferry across to Stanton Island passing the Statue of Liberty.  After that, we walked through Ground Zero, explored the Subway, drove through Little Italy, Soho, Chinatown, ate at Katz's Deli, went to Rockerfeller Plaza, went to the Top of the Rock, walked around and shopped on 5th Avenue, and hung out in Times Square after dark looking at all the lights and people watching.

Monday, we enjoyed a restful day.  Susan and I took the kiddos to a beautiful park where they played, climbed trees, explored waterfalls, and enjoyed climbing around on the rocks.

Tuesday, Susan and I head out to Chester to walk around the shops and a treat at a local coffee shop.  That evening, Glen took the big boys to the new Batman movie and Susan and I took the younger ones to the mall to shop.

Wednesday, Robert and Susan to us all to Philadephia, PA.  We stopped at Washington's Crossing, saw the Liberty Bell, toured the Senate, Congress, and stood in the room where the Declaration of Independance was signed.  We also stood in the spot where the first peaceful tranferance of power happened between Washington and Adams.  We walked through historical streets, saw the United States Mint, Benjamin Franklin's home where he penned the Declaration of Independance, Betsy Ross' house, and run up the steps to the Museum where Rocky was filmed.   We ate dinner at Tony Luke's.

Thursday, we enjoyed a day at the house so the kiddos could play together.

Friday, Susan took all of us to the Jersey Shore.  We had a BLAST playing in the water, building sand castles, a picnic lunch, and walking along the Broadwalk.  The waves were huge and the kiddos loved playing for several hours before we headed back to the Houses' for a yummy dinner.

Saturday, we headed out on our two day journey home.  We stopped in Hershey, PA for a quick look around the Hershey Musuem and then off to Gettysburg, PA where we took a bus tour through the Battlefields.  It was a LONG day but so worth it!! 

Sunday, we arrived home late.  It was a great trip but it was nice to be back home again.

Happy 16th Birthday, Corbyn!!

I cannot believe that my Baby Boy has now turned 16 years old.  It seems like yesterday that I gave birth to him.  Corbyn is such a blessing to our family.  He is a young man of character and he loves the Lord with all his heart.  Corbyn is intelligent, creative, caring, considerate, responsible, and so much fun to be around.  He truly is a delight and I am honored to be his Mommy!

Corbyn's day began with Breakfast in Bed prepared by all three of his siblings.  Eden, Keziah, and Azaryah LOVE serving their Big Brother!! It is precious to see their heart's desire is to bless him.

Here are a few pictures of Corbyn playing his guitar...This is one of his greatest joys and his Daddy and I LOVE to sit and listen to him play and sing!!

Azaryah wanted to buy a gift for his brother...He picked it out himself and bought it with his own money.  It was so cute watching Azaryah as Corbyn opened the gift!!  Corbyn LOVES his Lego set!!

Corbyn got a set of wheels for his birthday!!  He has wanted a "cool" skateboard for several months. 

 His sisters picked out and bought the pads for him...They want to make sure he is safe :)

Some money to spend in New York City!  Part of Corbyn's celebration will be our trip to New Jersey to see some of his best buddies.  While we are there, we will head into NYC to shop, sight-see, and enjoy the Big Apple!!

The cake was a group effort.  The kiddos and I made a gluten-free carrot cake with homemade icing.  Glen to the decorative icing and wrote on the cake.  Such a good Daddy!!

Hope he likes it!!!

 HaPpY HaPpY Birthday, My Love!!  We sure love you!!

Sleepovers Are The BEST!!

Kentucky Trip 2012

Every summer, we have the blessing of heading to Kentucky to visit friends and family.  This year, our first stop was in Louisville, KY to visit with Nana V for the week.  Of course, I took TONS of pictures but or the sake of space, I have tried to narrow the pictures down to just a few.  Our visit wtih Nana V included slumber parties and a gift box from Nana V...Can you tell by the kiddos' faces that they were THRILLED?!?!

Nana V took us to the Louisville Slugger Museum to see how they make the bats.  We spent the entire day in downtown Louisville.  We even got to eat at on of our favorite places...The Old Speghatti Factory...And YES!!  They serve Gluten-free pastas!!  WHOO HOO!!

 Nana also planned a day of Indoor Racing for Corbyn and a day at Puzzles for the younger ones.

 Me and Vilma...I truly am blessed to have such a precious Mother-In-Law!!  I LOVE HER!!!

The last day in Louisville, Uncle Dan and Aunt Deb hosted a family cookout.  It was SOOO fun to hang out all day with all of them.  Thank you, Missy, for taking the picture for us!!

The second week we were in Kentucky, we stayed at my parents.  Nana and Pawpaw had lots of fun activities planned as well.  One of the best things is being able to worship with them!!

Jason and Annette spend that weekend at Mama and Daddy's as well.  Annette's two boys got to hang out too!!  Aunt Chelle loves you Austin Jacomb and Noahie Noahie!!

This trip, I had the pure joy of running into several friends from high school.  Tammy was also in town that same week so she and her daugther, Taegan, came to my parents one evening to visit!! It was WONDERFUL seeing one of my best friends again!!

Can you tell by this picture that the kiddos, Uncle Jason, and Pawpaw had a blast playing swords?!?!  Silly Bunch!!

No trip to London, KY is complete without at least one lunch at Weaver's...Daddy painted the door for them a few months ago.

Of course, Nana and Pawpaw take the kiddos swimming every summer.  And of course, that trip includes at least one ice cream!!

Nana and Pawpaw's library is SOOO cool.  The children always look forward to going and joining in on the summer program activities.

Nana and Pawpaw save all their change from one summer to the next so that the children can have some "fun money" while we are visiting.  This year, they each were able to buy games from Game Stop.  Thank you, Nana and Pawpaw!!

Our trip ended with four days at Annette's.  She and I always have a Day Out when we are together.  This year, we went to downtown Bardstown to shop, eat, and walk around.

 Annette and her hat...

 Me and my hat...

 Saying "Good-bye" is so hard!!

Back Home...Safe and Sound!!  The children were THRILLED to see their Daddy again and I was VERY happy to be back in My Man's arms again :)

Thank You, Lord, for a great trip!!

HaPpY Father's Day

HaPpY Father's Day to the most wonderful husband, father, and friend I have ever known!!  Thank you, Glen, for being a man of God, a man of character, and a man who loves me and our children with all your heart.  We are so blessed to have you in our lives!!